The court heard Guoping Cai, 35 was hurt on March 16, 2006 when his arm was crushed in an unguarded printing machine as he cleared a paper blockage. He has been told he will never again be able to fully straighten his arm.
The second and third incidents involved Zhi Hong Fu, 52 who fell from a ladder on April 52006, suffering a broken wrist and two chipped teeth. On June 30, 2006 with his injured right arm now in a brace, Fu was using a two-handed drill suffered a second injury.
The company pleaded guilty to charges including failure to provide safe plant and systems of work; failure to provide the necessary information, instruction, training and supervision to enable employees to work safely and failure to provide information to employees in an appropriate language concerning health and safety at the workplace.
Stan Krpan acting executive director of WorkSafe, says all workers were legally entitled to a safe workplace irrespective of their employment or immigration status.
Krpan says, “The requirements for employers to provide and maintain a safe workplace have been in place for more than 30 years. There’s no excuse not to do it.”
He adds, “Employers must ensure people are not put at risk. They must be qualified for the work asked of them, they need instruction in their own language if necessary and they must be supervised.”
WorkSafe claims the case is thought to be Australia’s first prosecution in relation to people hurt while in Australia on s457 visas.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter